IS SHARING CARING?
The value of social media interaction patterns for online news services.
MASTER THESIS COMMUNICATION STUDIES – CASPER ROSSING – 2012
The value of social media interaction patterns for online news services.
Enschede, November 2012
Casper Rossing
Master Thesis Communication Studies University of Twente, Enschede
Supervisors:
Dr. S.A. de Vries Dr. P.A.M. Kommers
Thesis acknowledgements
Right now, you have in front of you my master thesis. It is the product of months of work and I have a lot of people to thank for being able to accomplish this. Without their help, support and motivating words this thesis would not be here.
First of all, I would like to thank my supervisors Sjoerd de Vries and Piet Kommers for all their help and advice. Without their help I could have gone through all kinds of literature and theories endlessly, and without their ability to think outside the box my thesis subject wouldn’t be half as exciting. Thank you for sharing your inspiring ideas with me and taking the time to work with me on this subject.
Also, my gratitude goes out to Rogier Stokking at Twentsche Courant Tubantia. Thank you for taking the time to help me and for providing data that I wouldn’t have access to otherwise.
I would also like to thank all the people who I have exchanged thoughts with on the subject of social media patterns over the course of writing my thesis. You may have noticed or you may have not, but you helped me to structure ideas and develop what I think is a very promising concept.
Last but not least I would like to thank my parents, girlfriend and friends for all their patience with me and for putting up with months of skipping drinks, birthdays, hangouts and other social events.
Casper Rossing November 2012
Table of contents
1. Introduction 7
1.1 Study motivation 7
1.2 Study focus 9
1.3 Research questions and sub questions 10
2. Theoretical framework 11
2.1 Social media 11
2.1.1 Social media: a brief history 11
2.1.2 Social presence and media richness 13
2.1.3 Self-presentation and self-disclosure 13
2.2 Pattern approach 16
2.2.1 Patterns and pattern language: a brief history 16
2.2.2 The structure of a pattern 17
2.2.3 Developing patterns and pattern language 18
2.3 Social media patterns 21
2.3.1 Social media and pattern language 21
2.3.2 Social media context 22
2.3.3 Social media goals and measurement 23
2.3.3a News organization goals 24
2.3.3b User goals 28
2.3.4 Social media interaction 31
2.3.5 Social media interfaces 34
2.4 Social media news interaction patterns 36
2.4.1 A social media news pattern language 36
2.4.2 Interaction: A pattern level 37
2.5 Theoretical framework outcomes 42
2.6 Conceptual model 43
3. Social media news interaction pattern validation 45
3.1 Research objectives 45
3.2 Research method 45
3.3 Research results 46
3.4 Conclusions 50
4. Exploratory study: Social media news interaction pattern value 55 4.1 Publisher value of social media news interaction patterns 55
4.1.1 Research objectives 55
4.1.2 Research method 56
4.1.3 Publisher value study results 59
4.1.3a Political news case study results 59
4.1.3b Societal news case study results 60
4.1.3c Economical news case study results 61
4.1.3d Sports news case study results 62
4.1.3e Entertainment news case study results 63
4.2 User value of social media news interaction patterns 65
4.2.1 Research objectives 65
4.2.2 Research method 65
4.2.3 User value study results 67
4.2.3a Demographics and pattern use 67
4.2.3b Motivations for pattern use 68
4.2.3c Pattern user needs 77
4.3 Conclusions 79
4.3.1 Publisher value study conclusions (study 1) 80
4.3.1a Pattern observability 80
4.3.1b Pattern measureability 80
4.3.1c Pattern value for publishers 82
4.3.2 User value study conclusions (study 2) 83
4.3.2a Pattern use 84
4.3.2b Motivations for pattern use 84
4.3.2c Pattern value for users 85
5. Conclusions and recommendations 88
5.1 Social media, patterns. And value 88
5.2 Social media news interaction pattern value 89
5.3 Recommendations 90
6. Discussion 92
References 94
Appendix 102
Abstract
Purpose
The Internet is becoming an integral part of journalism. News organizations employ websites and digital editions of newspapers to reach their audience on the World Wide Web. With the rise of social media, news organizations felt that they had to do something and have started to implement social media into their websites and communications. But in what ways are social media used? How, and with which objectives do news organizations employ social media? And in with which objectives do users employ social media? This study aims to develop social media news interaction patterns, and to determine the value of patterns for both news organizations and users.
Method
The first phase of this study consists of a literature review, describing the theoretical background of key concepts in the study such as interactivity, social media and the pattern approach. This results in a conceptual model, which will be tested using a two-step approach. In the first step, a preliminary study is conducted to test the practical validity of patterns extracted from the literature. The second step consists of two separate studies. Study one uses multiple case studies to examine the value of social media news interaction patterns for publishers. Study two uses an online questionnaire to examine the value of social media news interaction patterns for users.
Results and conclusions
The results from the case studies show that social media news interaction patterns can be observed in the practical setting of an online news site. A selection of interaction patterns was measurable using the data available for the case studies. Measured interaction patterns were associated with the following organizational objectives: (1) increase reach, (2) increase loyalty, (3) facilitate interaction, (4) co-creation, and (5) increase findability.
Results from the online questionnaires show that user objectives for most social media news interaction patterns can be explained using nuanced traditional uses and gratifications dimensions. Combining results from the case studies with results of the online questionnaires into a single model, the value of social media news interaction patterns is becomes visible.
Chapter 1. Introduction
1.1 Study motivation
News media have been around for centuries and, although technological breakthroughs like radio and television have had and impact on the way news is being spread and consumed, news media have typically been mass media since the press was invented. This changed when news media went online, in the sense that in an online environment a reader is more able to ‘talk back’ than in a mass media environment, for instance when watching the news on TV or reading a traditional newspaper.
From the time traditional newspapers introduced the first of their online counterparts in the late 1980’s / early 1990’s, the number of print newspapers that offer their news online has grown explosively (Bocczkowski, 1999; Gill, 2005). Today, virtually every print newspaper offers its news digitally. A recent study shows that half of the male and a third of the female Dutch population makes use of an online news source on a daily basis (Van Deursen & Van Dijk, 2010).
In the mean time, traditional paper newspapers are showing a slow but steady decline in the number of printed editions (Bakker & Scholten, 2009). The decline in printed newspaper editions is caused partly by the fact that younger generations tend to read less printed newspapers (Stimuleringsfonds voor de pers, 2007).
In an attempt to reach a bigger, younger audience newspaper publishers have launched new products and services (e.g. tabloids, supplements, magazines and digital services). Especially the digital services offered by newspapers on different types of new media serve the purpose of establishing a renewed affiliation with the younger generations. Digital services that are being offered by most Dutch national print newspapers include one or several websites, a digital edition, and an application for mobile devices. Integration between digital news services and social media such as Twitter and Facebook is becoming increasingly common. However, even though the integration of social media in online news services seems to have been fully embraced by the news industry, little research has focussed on the relation between organizational and user objectives for using social media in online news.
This study focuses on the relation between organizational and user objectives for using social media in online news. However, the term social media is a rather broad one, and many social media applications can be distinguished (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010). All of these applications provide a selection of social media functionalities to their users, and this selection may vary from application to application (Kietzmann, 2011). In this study, social media functionalities play a central role. Based on social media functionalities a number of social media news interaction patterns, which describe various ways social media functionalities can be used, are developed.
The objective of this study is to examine the value of these social media news interaction patterns. Can they be observed and measured? And if so, what do these measures tell us about social media use and associated objectives?
Social relevance
Social media have become a hot topic in business lately. More and more organizations come to realize how important social media are in today’s online world, and discover how social media can help them to for instance strengthen customer relations, build thought leadership, and maximize reach. The current challenges marketers face are how to develop a social media strategy, how to measure social media objectives and how to develop a model for measuring social media return on investment (ROI).
This study aims to function as an initial step in the development of social media patterns, which can be used to develop or evaluate a social media strategy and provide measures to monitor social media performance. Having reliable measures is important because organizations need to make strategic decisions based on something more than a gut feeling. The way social media news interaction patterns are measured in this study can furthermore provide very usable insights into how social media objectives can be measured in practice, and may function as a stepping stone towards the development of robust social media ROI measures. This is especially important because organizations want to be able to tell what the effect of using social media is, and whether the time and money spent on it is worth it.
Scientific relevance
Like in business, social media are a hot topic in social science, too, and much scientific research is conducted in this field. However, most studies focus on social media applications such as Facebook, Twitter and Youtube. In this study, the aim is to move away from social media application thinking and to introduce social media pattern thinking. This way, we hope to not only gain insight into the uses of social media functionalities independent from applications, but also to produce results which hold their practical validity for a longer period of time. This is especially important because development in social media takes place at a rapid pace.
Applications are constantly changing and evolving, and new social media applications emerge, while others are abandoned and disappear. Their functionalities, however, largely tend to stay constant and outlive such changes.
The scientific relevance of the current study thus becomes twofold. First, by focussing on social media functionalities rather than social media applications, the current study potentially holds its practical validity for a longer period of time. Secondly, research results can be applicable to a variety of social media applications, as most applications share a number of functionalities, although the emphasis may vary from application to application (Kietzmann, 2011).
1.2 Study focus
Over the years, social media have been widely studied in various contexts and using a variety of approaches. Most scientific research has focussed on social media in general (Constantinides et al, 2008; Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010), specific types of social media (e.g. social network sites) (Boyd & Ellison, 2008; Barker, 2009; Rethlefsen, 2007), or specific social media applications (Chen, 2011; Larosa et al, 2012; Hanson & Haradakis, 2008; Preece et al, 2004; Tsagkias et al, 2011). In this study, however, the focus is on social media functionalities that can be found across social media applications. Although some scholars have emphasized the importance of such an approach when thinking about and researching social media and social media strategy (Li & Bernoff, 2011; Kietzmann 2011), it is a fairly new approach that hasn’t been applied in many studies yet. Therefore, this study focuses on social media functionalities, rather than social media applications or specific types of social media. Leaning on work by Alexander et al (1977), the social media functionalities are translated to social media interaction patterns. Social media (interaction) patterns are a new concept in social sciences. Therefore, the first objective in this study is to describe the concept of social media patterns and to develop an initial set of patterns. Then, the value the patterns have for online news publishers and users are studied.
In respect to the practical relevance of this study the value patterns have for online news publishers is measured using key performance indicators (KPIs), which are of a quantitative nature. Some KPIs are combined and translated into ratios, so that data can be compared more easily across different cases or over time. KPIs and ratios are selected and constructed in such a way that news organizations should be able to adopt the measures for their own benchmarks and social media performance monitoring.
Because the social media pattern approach is a new approach to social media, ideally the results from this study would be general. However, studying social media patterns requires selecting a specific context. In this study the context of online news was selected. Research results from this study will thus be hard to project on other contexts (e.g. marketing, education etc.), although the results may function as a point of departure to examine social media patterns in different contexts. Research results in the current study are based on a limited amount of data, participants and respondents, so the current study should be viewed as an exploratory study.
1.3 Research questions and sub questions
With the rise of social media over the last decade it has become one of the most prominent means of online communication nowadays. Hundreds of millions of people are participating in social media by connecting with each other, expressing themselves, and creating and sharing content. Businesses are active on social media, too. Recently, scholars have emphasized the importance of a functionality-centred approach when thinking about and researching social media and social media strategy, rather than a application-centred approach (Li & Bernoff, 2011;
Kietzmann 2011). Therefore, this study examines social media functionalities, rather than social media applications or specific types of social media. This study focuses on (1) the development of social media patterns, and (2) determining the value patterns have for online news publishers and users. The main research question can thus be formulated as follows:
What is the value of social media news interaction patterns?
In order to come to an answer on the main research question, six sub questions were formulated. These sub questions form the basis of the theoretical framework and a two-step research approach. The theoretical framework in chapter 2 aims to answer the first three sub questions:
1) What is social media?
2) What is the pattern approach?
3) What are social media patterns?
Based on outcomes of the theoretical framework, a conceptual model is developed. The validity of this model is examined through interviews with online news professionals, described in chapter 3. The online interviews aim to answer the fourth sub question:
4) Which social media news interaction patterns can be distinguished?
In the second step of the study, the value of the social media news interaction patterns distinguished in chapter 3 is examined. The value for publishers and users is studied in chapter 4. This chapter aims to answer the fifth and sixth sub questions:
5) What is the value of social media news interaction patterns for publishers?
6) What is the value of social media news interaction patterns for users?
Chapter 2. Theoretical framework
In this chapter the theoretical foundations for the study are explicated. Theories and definitions forming the theoretical foundations function as a means to answer the research question and sub questions, as well as a way to construct a solid basis for the study itself. The objective of the theoretical framework is to develop a descriptive model for social media news interaction patterns, which will be tested in chapters 3 and 4. In this model there are four elements playing a central role: (1) the online news context in which social media patterns are studied, (2) organizational objectives for using social media in this context, (3) user objectives for using social media in this context, and (4) interactions through social media which enable the organization and user to meet their objectives.
In the next paragraph the concept of social media will be defined from multiple points of view, and explored further through the concepts of social presence and media richness, as well as self presentation and self-disclosure. The second paragraph focuses on the pattern approach. Here the pattern concept will be explicated, and pattern structure and development will receive attention. The third paragraph focuses on social media patterns. The concept of social media pattern will be defined, and central elements such as context, objectives, interaction, and applications will be described. To conclude this chapter, based on the theoretical framework a set of social media news interaction patterns and a descriptive model for social media news interaction patterns will be developed.
2.1 Social media
This paragraph is built around the concept of social media. First, a brief history of social media will be given, and the related concepts of web 2.0 and user generated content (UGC) will be defined, in order to come to a definition of social media from multiple points of view. Then, the concept of social media will be explored further through the concepts of social presence and media richness, as well as self-presentation and self-disclosure. Based on these concepts and theories social media are divided into several social media categories and applications.
2.1.1 Social media: a brief history
The term ‘social media’ was coined around the year 2003, when social network sites gained more and more popularity, although the first system that would classify as social media appeared as early as 1979 (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010). Even though the concept of social media is a relatively new one, there has been extensive research on a variety of topics.
In order to come to a formal definition of the term social media, Kaplan and Kaenlein (2010) start off by clarifying the two related concepts of ‘web 2.0’ and ‘user generated content’. The term web 2.0 was first used in 2005 to describe a new way in which software developers and users make use of the World Wide Web (Constantinides & Fountain, 2008). This means that
applications and content are no longer created and distributed solely by individuals, but instead are continuously being updated by different individuals who are working in a collaborative fashion. Applications such as a personal website or an online dictionary represent the idea of content publishing in a web 1.0 way, whereas applications such as blogs and wiki’s replace them in web 2.0 (O’Reilly, 2005). Even though web 2.0 doesn’t refer to any technological upgrade of the World Wide Web, there is a number of new web-technologies closely related to its functioning. Therefore, Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) describe web 2.0 as the ideological and technical foundation of both user generated content and social media, by combining a new set of web-technologies and a new mentality towards using the World Wide Web.
The term ‘user generated content’ gained broad popularity in 2005 and it is used to describe a variety of media content publicly available on the World Wide Web and created by end-users (Keen, 2007). Kaplan & Haenlein (2010) describe three basic requirements for media content to meet in order to be considered user generated content. The first requirement is that the content needs to be available through a public website or a social networking site accessible to a selected group of people. Secondly, it needs to show a certain amount of creative effort, and third, it must be created outside of professional routines and practices (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010). The first requirement excludes a conversation via e-mail or instant messaging from classifying as user generated content; the second excludes a mere copy of content already present on the Web (e.g. copying a news story on to a blog without adding any modification or comment); and the third requirement excludes any content created with a commercial market context in mind. According to Kaplan and Haenlein (2010), user generated content can be seen as the sum of all ways people make use of social media.
Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) describe the way social media fit into the picture as follows: “ […]
social media is a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user generated content. ” (p.61). Lee & Ma (2011) define social media as: “ Internet-based services that allow individuals to create, share and seek content, as well as to communicate and collaborate with each other. ” From an organizational point of view, social media is a set of tools that allow organizations to get to know customers, markets and competitors in real time, as well as to involve these customers in communication, marketing and innovation processes (Constantinides et al, 2008). These general definitions are applicable to a wide variety of social media applications (e.g. Facebook, Wikipedia and Youtube), but don’t do justice to the differences that exist between them. Therefore a more detailed understanding into the concepts that lie behind social media is needed, so that different types of social media can be distinguished (Kietzmann et al, 2011). A variety of social media types can be identified by relying on a set of theories in the field of media research and social processes.
2.1.2 Social presence and media richness
From an academic point of view, new media – including social media applications – are simply new types of media that have their place within the media spectrum alongside traditional media and can be studied using (traditional) media theory (Kietzmann et al, 2011). Most social media applications are designed to allow users to connect with each other and facilitate interaction and the exchange of information. Social presence theory states that media differ in the level of social presence that they allow for between communication partners (Walther, 1992; Biocca, 1997).
Social presence is defined as the acoustic, visual and physical contact that can be achieved in a communication setting. Key elements within social presence theory are intimacy (interpersonal vs. mediated) and immediacy (asynchronous vs. synchronous) of communication (). It can be expected that social presence is higher for interpersonal communication (e.g. a face-to-face conversation) than mediated communication (e.g. a conversation via telephone) and for synchronous communication (e.g. instant messaging) than asynchronous (e.g. an e-mail conversation). When social presence increases, the influence communication partners have on each other’s behaviour also grows larger (Skalski & Tamborini, 2007).
A concept closely related to social presence is the media richness. Media richness theory (Daft et al., 1987) is based on the idea that media differ in the degree of richness they posses, and that, depending on the amount of richness, different media are suitable for different kinds of communication. According to Daft et al. (1987), the degree of richness a specific medium possesses, depends on (1) immediacy of feedback that is allowed by the medium, (2) the number of cues that can be transmitted via the medium, (3) the extent to which a medium allows for language variation, and (4) the extent to which a medium allows for message personalisation, for instance by transmitting feelings and emotion. In this approach face-to-face communication is the richest form of communication, while an unaddressed document is the least rich form of communication.
2.1.3 Self-presentation and self-disclosure
Concerning the social processes that take place when using social media, the concept of self- presentation states that people have the desire to exercise control over the impressions other people form of them (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010). This is because people want to create an image for themselves that is consistent with their personal identity, and because people want to influence others in order to get a reward. Self-presentation is managed through self-disclosure, which is defined as sharing personal information such as thoughts and emotions, either consciously or unconsciously. Self-disclosure is a very important aspect in the development of close interpersonal relationships like friendships and during dating, but it can also occur between total strangers, for instance when sharing a personal problem with the passenger next to you on the train.
Social presence / media richness
Low Medium-low Medium-high High
High Blogs Discussion
boards
Social networking sites
Virtual social worlds Self-
presentation / self-
disclosure Low Collaborative projects
Content aggregators
Content communities
Virtual game worlds
Table 1: Social media categories.
Combining both dimensions, Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) develop a 3 by 2 typology to classify six kinds of social media. However, as Constantinides and Fountain (2008) argue, there are more kinds of social media than these six. By adding an extra column, additional kinds of social media can be added, as shown in table 1 above. When looking at social presence and media richness, collaborative projects such as Wikipedia and blogs score lowest because their content is mostly text-based and therefore only allows for a relatively simple exchange. Discussion boards and content aggregators get a medium-low score, as they allow for the exchange of photos in addition to plain text. Social networking sites such as Facebook or Myspace, and content communities such as Youtube or Flickr, are social media showing medium-high levels of social presence and media richness because they, in addition to text-based communication, give users the possibility to exchange photos, videos and other forms of media. The highest levels of social presence and media richness in social media are found in virtual social (e.g.
Second life) and game worlds (e.g. World of warcraft), because they try to replicate face-to-face communication in a virtual environment.
Concerning self-presentation and self-disclosure, blogs generally score higher than collaborative projects do, because the latter focus on the objective description of a specific subject. Blogs allow for the communication of a more personal view on a certain topic. The same is true for discussion boards and content aggregators. Discussion boards allow for more personal communication than content aggregators do. Similarly, social worlds score higher than virtual game worlds because in the latter there are strict guidelines that force users to behave in a certain way. For instance, playing as a warrior differs greatly from playing as a mage.
Paragraph overview
In this paragraph the concept of social media was defined and elaborated on. Social media can be viewed from a number of perspectives (Constantinides & Fountain, 2008; Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010). The most obvious perspectives relevant to the current study are those from a user / consumer and an organizational point of view. Even though social media themselves don’t change, the differences between both perspectives are vast.
From a user point of view, social media are a set of internet-based, interactive applications that allow users to create and share content, as well as to communicate and collaborate with each other (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010; Li & Ma, 2011). From an organization point of view on the other hand, social media are a set of tools that allow organizations to get to know customers, markets and competitors in real time, as well as to involve these customers in communication, marketing and innovation processes (Constantinides et al, 2008).
Social media can be found in many forms. Using theories of social presence, media richness, self-presentation, and self-disclosure, various social media categories can be distinguished (see table 1). These categories can be used to group specific social media applications, based on their properties.
2.2 Pattern approach
This paragraph focuses on the pattern approach and seeks to answer the question what the pattern approach encompasses. First, the origin of the pattern concept will be described, and the concept itself will be explicated. Next, the structure of an individual pattern and the ways patterns can be developed will be elaborated on.
2.2.1 Patterns and pattern language: a brief history
The concept of pattern is a concept that can be found in many disciplines, ranging from fashion to mathematics, often referring to a systematically recurring (set of) objects or events. The Oxford Dictionaries Online defines a pattern as “a regular and intelligible form or sequence discernible in the way in which something happens or is done”.
The pattern language approach, as coined by Alexander et al (1977) in the field of architecture, provides a framework for describing and linking recurring issues and their solutions within a field of expertise, in a way that both professionals and novices can use them. The bases of the pattern language approach are individual patterns, which are defined By Borchers (2001) as “a proven solution to a recurring design problem”, and which can be thought of as semi-structured chunks of information, all sharing the same basic structure (Schuler, 2008). Alexander (1979) describes a pattern as “[…] a three-part rule, which expresses a relation between a certain context, a problem and a solution” (p. 247). In the Alexandrian sense, the term ‘problem’ refers to a certain system of forces, and the term ‘solution’ refers to the way these forces are allowed to resolve themselves. By describing the context, problem and solution, a pattern is made explicit and provides insight not only into something that can be observed everywhere around us, but also helps us to understand in which circumstances it can be employed and how to employ it. Or, to quote Alexander: “The pattern is […] at the same time a thing, which happens in the world, and the rule which tells us how to create that thing, and when we must create it. It is both a process and a thing, both a description of a thing […], and a description of the process which will generate that thing” (1979 p. 247).
In their work, Alexander et al (1977) describe 253 patterns in the field of architecture on different levels, ranging from general (e.g. pattern #1: Independent regions) to highly specific (e.g. pattern
#253: Things from your life). All patterns are linked to relevant earlier (i.e. more general) and later (i.e. more specific) patterns. It is the way that these patterns relate to each other and how patterns are combined that forms a pattern language (Schuler, 2008), which, for example, tells us how best to design a park, a house, or a living room. Generally formulated, a pattern language is a structured method of describing good design practices.
Over the years, the pattern language approach has found its way across many disciplines, primarily within the domain of computing, resulting in ‘design patterns’ (the equivalent to Alexander’s ‘patterns’) and pattern languages used in software development, interaction design,
and multi-disciplinary projects (Borchers, 2001; Cooper et al, 2007; Dearden & Finlay, 2006;
Martin & Roski, 2007; Schuler, 2008).
2.2.2 The structure of a pattern
Now that the pattern language approach had been described, more insight into the structure of an individual pattern will help to gain more insight into the concept. A pattern has been defined as a semi-structured chunk of information, sharing the same basic structure with other patterns (Schuler, 2008) in the previous paragraph. In this paragraph, attention will be paid to the building blocks of individual patterns and the way they vary across disciplines.
As noted in the previous paragraph, Alexander (1979) describes a pattern as “[...] a three-part rule, which expresses a relation between a certain context, a problem and a solution” (p. 247). In this description, three main elements in the structure of a pattern are included, namely context, problem and solution. These three elements form the core of a pattern, although a pattern consists of more basic elements. In Schuler’s (2008) description of the Alexander’s pattern structure, two basic elements are added: name and discussion. Borchers (2001) adds an additional three elements: an illustration, examples, and a diagram. Note that pattern languages applied in different fields may show a slight variation of basic elements between each other, depending on the purpose a pattern language serves. For instance, the pattern language by Alexander et al (1977) is developed with the idea that people with a non-architectural background should be able to use the pattern language to shape their surrounding and design their own buildings, parks and towns, whereas most pattern languages applied in software engineering are developed for professional usage only (Borchers, 2001).
A pattern language developed for professional use in software engineering may have an emphasis on functionality, focussing on context and adding a diagram for clarity, while a pattern language aimed at novices may have an emphasis on inspiring people, using images and drawn figures with a sensitizing purpose. Also, the matters discussed in elements with the same name may vary across pattern languages used in different fields. For example, Alexander (1977) and Borchers (2001) use the ‘context’ element to describe which larger, more general patterns are connected to the pattern discussed, and use the ‘references’ element to describe which smaller, more specific patterns are connected to the pattern discussed. In contrast, Schuler (2008) uses the ‘context’ element to describe the (non-pattern) context in which the pattern discussed fits, while a reference to both larger and smaller patterns is made in a single element called ‘linked patterns’.
In conclusion, an individual pattern within a pattern language can be viewed as a semi- structured chunk of information, sharing its basic structure with other patterns in the language.
Across pattern languages the structure of an individual pattern may vary, although the information it contains is largely similar. The basic structure of an individual pattern, based on the structures used by Borchers (2001) and Schuler (2008), and can be described as follows:
• Each pattern addresses a recurring design problem, and suggests a solution to it.
• The name of the pattern refers to its central idea quickly
• The problem describes the major issue the pattern addresses.
• Each pattern has a specific context which embraces:
o Salient features of the environment o Salient features of the person(s) affected o The objectives of the person(s) affected
• The discussion section forms the largest part of a pattern. It describes situations in which the problem has been encountered, and how it has been solved in these situations.
• The solution generalizes from the discussion a proven way to balance the forces and solve the problem for the given context.
• In the linked patterns section, the pattern is linked to both larger, more general, and smaller, more specific, patterns found in the pattern language.
The structure of an individual pattern, as described above, gives an idea of the way a pattern is constructed, and how it can be used. The next paragraph will focus on the way scholars have identified and constructed patterns and pattern languages.
2.2.3 Developing patterns and a pattern language
Since Alexander et al (1977) coined the pattern language approach, various pattern languages covering a range of disciplines have been developed. These pattern languages differ not only in their subject matter, but also in their target audience. As shown in the previous paragraph, this results in slight differences in the structure of individual patterns between pattern languages.
When it comes to the development of patterns and pattern languages, different development methods have been used, too.
The pattern language by Alexander et al (1977) is developed with the idea that people with a non-architectural background should be able to use the pattern language to shape their surrounding and design their own buildings, parks and towns. Being architects, the pattern language was developed by the authors themselves and Alexander explains how in his work
‘The timeless way of building’ (1979). According to Alexander, “to make a pattern explicit, we merely have to make the inner structure of the pattern clear” (1979, p. 249). The first step in Alexander’s approach is to define a physical feature that seems worth extracting further. In the case of a social media news interaction pattern, you may get the feeling that something is helping to make you feel in the right place when visiting an online news service. By asking questions such as ‘what is this something?’, ‘why is this something helping to make this page work?’ and ‘when, or where, exactly will this work?’, the feature can be identified. Next,
Alexander suggests defining the problem, or the opposing forces that are balanced by the feature identified. Then, the context, or contexts, in which the pattern can be used is to be defined. According to Alexander, the aforementioned elements form the core of a pattern. By describing the context, problem and solution, a pattern is made explicit and provides insight not only into something that can be observed everywhere around us, but also helps us to understand in which circumstances it can be employed and how to employ it.
The pattern language developed by Schuler (2008), focussing on civic and community information and communication, is an example of a language primarily aimed at professional usage, aiming at a variety of professionals working in academic disciplines, social movements and nongovernmental organizations. Because this pattern language has been developed in a different discipline and in a different time (some 30 years later) than Alexander’s pattern language, some differences in pattern, and pattern language, development can be found. First, unlike Alexander, Schuler had modern ICT technologies at his disposal. For pattern development, Schuler used a specially designed piece of software, in which people were able to submit patterns. This allowed many specialists on various terrains within civic and community information and communication, from all over the world, to take part in the project and facilitated a way for pattern reviewing and validation.
Schuler (2008) doesn’t describe the exact process of individual pattern development. The pattern development process has been an effort of many different experts, from various countries around the world, so it is likely that not all patterns were developed using the same process. Schuler does, however, describe the process of pattern discussion, refinement, ordering and validation to some extent.
When the individual patterns have been developed, reviewed and refined, they need to be organized in some way to form a pattern language. Schuler (2008) identifies four, possibly partly overlapping ways for pattern categorizing, a process Schuler describes as the prelude to organizing. First, patterns can be categorized on the basis of core themes. Second, computers can be used for pattern categorization, using keywords. Third, people can guide the process through a constructed categorization approach, in which they indicate the pattern they would use next when using a certain pattern. Finally, the patterns can be categorized according to a generic scheme, or a continuum. Schuler (2008) opts for the last described way of pattern categorization, ordering the patterns in nine categories, from general to specific, similar to the way Alexander et al (1977) categorize their pattern language.
Paragraph overview
In this paragraph the pattern concept played a central role. An overview of its origins and the way it has been applied was given, and the structure and development of patterns was explained, on the basis of these applications.
The pattern concept can be found in many disciplines, often referring to a systematically recurring set of objects or events. Alexander et al (1977) originally developed their pattern language in the field of architecture, but the approach has also been applied successfully in the fields of software development, interaction design, and multi-disciplinary projects (Borchers, 2001; Cooper et al, 2007; Dearden & Finlay, 2006; Martin & Roski, 2007; Schuler, 2008).
An individual pattern within a pattern language can be viewed as a semi-structured chunk of information, sharing its basic structure with other patterns in the language. Across pattern languages the structure of an individual pattern may vary, although the information it contains often is largely similar. When it comes to the development of patterns and pattern languages, different development methods have been used, too.
Alexander (1979) developed his pattern language on architecture by focussing on his surroundings, and extracting elements worth examining further from his surroundings. Schuler (2008), in contrast, developed his pattern language on civic and community information and communication using a piece of software in which a selection of experts submitted and reviewed patterns.
2.3 Social media patterns
The two previous paragraphs have provided insight into the concept of social media (paragraph 2.1) and the pattern approach (paragraph 2.2). In this paragraph the emphasis lies on bringing the concepts of the previous paragraphs together, resulting in social media patterns. The concept of social media pattern will be defined, and central elements such as context, goals, interaction, and applications will be described.
2.3.1 Social media and pattern language
Social media have been widely studied in different areas, using a variety of perspectives, approaches and theories. In most studies specific social media applications are approached in relative isolation (Kim et al, 2010). In a practical situation however, social media are used in many different ways and in many different contexts (Kietzmann et al, 2011). By focussing solely on specific social media applications or the forms social media take without taking into account elements such as their functionalities and the context in which they are being used, critical insights concerning creative, dynamic usage may be overlooked.
The approach on social media that is taken in this study aims to incorporate various relevant elements into a single model, the social media pattern model. The basic idea behind this model is that no single social media application can provide added value in every thinkable situation.
Rather, the extent to which a specific social media application can be useful and successful depends on the context of the situation in which it is employed, the goals or objectives that both the organization and the user want to meet, and the interactions through which these objectives can be met. Projecting the pattern approach onto social media allows for a description of the aforementioned relevant elements, while the nature of the pattern approach ensures that these elements can be viewed in relation to each other.
Within the social media patterns model, social media patterns are defined as follows:
A social media pattern is a description of a social media usage process, comprised of context, goal, interaction or interfaces, and in which processes are characterized by context-, goal-, interaction- and interface-dimensions.
In this definition, the domain in which social media patterns are being used can be viewed as the context. The goal dimensions, describing the goals or objectives to be obtained through social media usage in the given context, can be described from an organizational point of view or a user point of view. Interaction patterns describe various kind(s) of possibilities for interaction, which can be linked to specific relevant user and / or organization goals. Social media platforms that enable for specific kinds of interaction are described in the interface patterns, which can be linked to relevant interaction patterns.
Social media context
Social media goals
Social media interactions
Social media interfaces Fig.1: Social media pattern levels
Figure 1 pictured above is a visual representation of the social media pattern approach. Social media patterns can be used to develop a social media strategy by working through figure 1 from the top down. This way, an organization first examines the context in which social media are to be employed. Then, social media goals are formulated. After that, based on the social media goals, relevant social media interactions are identified. Finally, based on the social media interactions, relevant social media interfaces are selected. Social media patterns can be used to evaluate an existing social media strategy by working through figure 1 from the bottom up.
The next four paragraphs provide a more detailed description of the social media pattern levels of social media context (2.3.2), social media goals (2.3.3), social media interactions (2.3.4), and social media interfaces (2.3.5).
2.3.2 Social media context
To get an idea of the contexts in which social media can be found, contingency theory may provide a useful framework. Within organization studies, contingency theory is a framework providing a coherent paradigm for the analysis of organizational structure (Donaldson, 1996).
The basic assumption of contingency theory is that there is no single organizational structure that is highly effective for all organizations. Instead it considers the optimal structure as varying according to certain factors. These factors are called contingencies and can be placed into two categories: technology (or the technical system) and the environment (or context) (Jägers et al., 1995). There are two specific matters of importance when it comes to the environment of an organization: environment dynamic and environment complexity. An environment, or context, is considered more dynamic when it is highly subject to change. A context is considered more complex when the organization has to take into account many different, and mutually connected entities in the direct environment of the organization (Jägers et al., 1995).
Applying contingency theory to the case of social media, it can be stated that social media do not have a single form or type that provides a useful, successful addition to every domain or context. Rather, the usefulness and amount of success would depend on the context, which may vary from the domain of online news to that of reputation management to online marketing.
A good analogy to this matter may be the way Wittgenstein thought about language in his later years. Wittgenstein (2006) states that, when used in language, words do not have a fixed meaning. Words only obtain meaning when they are being practised in language, in what Wittgenstein calls ‘language games’. A language game can be viewed as a way of practising language in a specific situation. Different language games are applied to different situations and each language game has its specific characteristics that may not be applicable to other language games. For example, the word ‘spring’ as a noun may refer to a season of the year, water, or a piece of curved metal. As a verb it may refer to moving rapidly or to appearing suddenly. That is five possible meanings to just one word. It is the context of the word, (i.e. the language game in which it is used) which determines what is meant by ‘spring’.
Similarly, there is no one way in which a certain kind or type of social media can only be used.
Instead, social media can be utilized in many different ways and when asking what the usage of a specific kind of social media means, it would make sense to study the context in which it is used.
In this study the context in which social media are studied is that of online news. When looking at online news from a contingency perspective, online news can be viewed as a highly dynamic and highly complex context. The online news context is highly dynamic because it is subject to change on an hourly basis. News is made 24/7 and, especially in online news, consumers want to be updated in real-time. The online news context is highly complex because an online news organization has to take into account many stakeholders (both external and internal) and their interests. External stakeholders include (online) advertisers, subscribers, non-subscribers, and press relations. Internal stakeholders include newspaper management, journalists and the editorial team, the sales team, and the marketing team.
Social media patterns ultimate job is to describe social media use, and to help organizations in developing their social media strategy and reach their social media objectives. It is through the use of social media interfaces that the associated social media news interaction patterns help to reach stakeholders goals and thus create value for these stakeholders. In this study, stakeholders aren’t treated individually. Instead, stakeholders are grouped according to the goals social media can help them achieve. In the next paragraph, the following goals are discussed: (1) news organization goals, and (2) user goals. Ideally, a social media interaction pattern allows multiple stakeholders to meet their goals.
2.3.3 Social media goals and measurement
With the social media craze at its highest, many organizations felt the need to ‘do something’
with social media and decided to jump in and start using them, without thinking too much about goals and measurement (Petouhoff, 2012). Now that social media are becoming an accepted
element of business in general and marketing and communications in specific, more attention is being paid to goals, measurement and ROI of social media (Murdough, 2009; Petouhoff, 2012).
Even though professionals are moving towards formulating goals for, and measuring the effects of their social media efforts, social media (ROI) measurement is still in its infancy and has been compared to the state of web analytics in the mid 1990s (Murdough, 2009). Indeed, as Petouhoff (2012) shows, a vast majority of marketers feel they can’t measure social media ROI, while a majority have labelled social media measurement as a priority in order to improve effectiveness and integration with other marketing efforts.
By identifying organizational goals and associated key performance indicators (KPIs), as well as user goals and associated key need indicators (KNIs) we aim to create a model for the implementation of social media interaction patterns linked to specific organizational and user goals within the context of online news.
2.3.3a News organization goals
At the dawn of the 21st century, journalists generally viewed the Internet as posing a threat to the practice of objective journalism. However, with the rise of online news services and social media over the last decade, journalists’ negative reactions have softened over time (Ruggiero, 2004). Most literature on online news services and the integration of interactive features and social media is written from a users perspective. In recent years however, a number of studies have focussed on the value the Internet and social media have for journalists.
For a newspaper, there are three important business goals: (1) earning profits as high as possible, (2) reaching an audience as large as possible, and (3) practicing high quality journalism (Beam, 2006). But when it comes to formulating goals for social media efforts, according to Hoffman and Fodor (2010), the emphasis shouldn’t be on traditional business goals (e.g. direct sales, direct cost reductions, increases in market share, etc.). Rather, the authors emphasize the importance of having objectives that take advantage of specific social media characteristics.
Hofmann and Fodor (2010) identify the following three social media goals: (1) brand awareness, (2) brand engagement, and (3) word of mouth. Petouhoff (2012), on the other hand, stresses that it is important to realize that social media goals are organization specific, and that there isn’t just one answer for how and what to measure in social media. She does however mention a number of typical social media business goals which can be viewed as more detailed objectives in addition to the goals formulated by Beam (2006) and Hoffman and Fodor (2010). Typical social media business goals according to Petouhoff (2012) are: (1) determining what people are saying about your organization via social media monitoring, (2) gathering competitive intelligence, (3) engaging with customers and prospects online, (4) building thought leadership, (5) maximizing reach of content and messaging, (6) supporting existing sales and marketing efforts, (7) supporting recruiting and retention efforts, and (8) building a customer community to provide support and advocacy. Li and Bernhoff (2011) describe a set of similar goals, including (1) social
media monitoring, (2) engaging with customers, and (3) energizing customers. Table 3 on the next page provides an overview of a news organisation’s general social media goals as well as more detailed social media objectives associated with those goals.
From a journalistic organizational point of view, the Internet in general and social media in specific provides a number of opportunities. Kerrigan and Graham (2010) describe the impact the Internet and web 2.0 have on the theoretical model of the news-media value chain, changing the balance of power in news production and distribution. According to Kerrigan and Graham (2010), web 2.0 allows users, either individually or in social networks, to produce and distribute news based on their own observations and opinions. This represents a significant change in the balance of power, because news organizations no longer have a monopoly on the production and distribution of news. On top of that, web 2.0 forces news organisations to deal with a fragmented audience, and declining reach (Kerrigan & Graham, 2010).
Publisher goals Internet / social media objectives
Large audience / brand awareness
- News distribution (Oluseyi & Gallop, 2010; Kerrigan &
Graham, 2010; Petouhoff, 2012)
- Enhance news provision (Kerrigan & Graham, 2010) - Build thought leadership (Petouhoff, 2012)
Brand engagement - Build customer community (Petouhoff, 2012; Li & Bernhoff, 2011)
- Engage with customers (Petouhoff, 2012; Kerrigan &
Graham, 2010; Li & Bernhoff, 2011)
Word of mouth - Maximize reach (Petouhoff, 2012)
High quality journalism - Find news sources (Lariscy et al., 2009; Ruggiero, 2004;
Waters et al. 2010)
- Co-creation (Kerrigan & Graham, 2010)
- Relational exchanges (Kerrigan & Graham, 2010; Petouhoff, 2012)
- Fact check (Kerrigan & Graham, 2010)
High profits - Support sales and marketing (Petouhoff, 2012)
- Support recruiting and retention efforts (Petouhoff, 2012)
Table 2: Publisher goals and associated social media objectives.
On the other hand, social media give news organisations unprecedented opportunities for user participation and engagement (Li & Bernhoff, 2011). What this means is that news organisations can use the changing balance of power to their advantage by enabling users to co-produce, co- distribute and to engage with the news organization. Co-creation experiences and relational exchanges make for an intensification of engagement and give the user more influence on selection and certification processes, while Internet media and device convergence influence the production and distribution of news (Kerrigan & Graham, 2010). When it comes to the journalist source mix, Lariscy et al. (2009) found that non-interactive online information sources (such as web-pages and directories) remain the most important sources for journalists. However, like Kerrigan and Graham (2010), the authors found journalists not opposed to using social media for selection and agenda-building processes.
Table 2 on the previous page provides an overview of the ways in which social media news interaction patterns can contribute to various (journalistic) organizational goals, as identified on previous pages. For instance, social media news interaction patterns that allow for news distribution and that have the potential to enhance news provision can be utilized by journalists and newsroom supervisors to maximize an articles’ reach and increase brand awareness. Social media can also be used to increase journalistic quality. Journalists can use social media to do fact-checks and the Internet and social media enable journalists to find news sources and quotes and to intensify reader engagement through co-creation and relational exchanges.
Key performance indicators
When social media goals have been formulated, a news organization, or any organization for that matter, needs to have a way of measuring the extent to which social media objectives are being reached. This is done by identifying key performance indicators (KPIs) and establishing performance benchmarks for social media (Murdough, 2009).
Key Performance Indicators are metrics such as number of followers, number of times posted to social media, and number of comments. More traditional web-analytics metrics can also be used as KPIs for social media measurement. For instance, measuring the number of visitors that have been referred to a website or webpage from social media can be very helpful. KPIs can vary from situation to situation, depending on the objectives formulated for social media implementation. A selection of typical KPIs for frequently formulated social media objectives is summarized in table 3 on the next page.
As mentioned before, social media measurement is still in its infancy and developments in measurements and methods are discussed widely on marketing and tech blogs every day. One of the latest developments in social media measurement is using ratios and multiple KPIs for the measurement of a single social media objective. This means that, for instance, measuring the success of enhancing news distribution isn’t being measured by the number of times content is
Internet / social media objective Key performance indicator (KPI)
Enhance news distribution / Enhance news provision Maximize reach
- Number of times reposted on social media - Number of times reposted on specific social media - Number of unique visits
- Number of return visits - Number of social media visits - Number of specific social media visits - Number of page views
- Potential reach
Build thought leadership - Number of tweets about the brand - Number of tweets with brand hashtags - Share of conversation
Build customer community - Number of followers - Number of friends / fans - Number of comments - Number of relevant comments - Length of comments
- Number of individual replies - Number of active users - Number of @mentions
Engage with customers / Relational exchanges
- Number of @mentions - Number of @replies - Number of comments - Number of relevant comments - Number of individual replies - Length of replies
-
Co-creation - Number of creation attempts
- Amount of user generated content - Number of user generated items
Table 3: Social media objectives and associated KPIs.
being shared to social media alone, but instead it’s measured by the number of times content is being shared to social media in relation to the number of unique visitors of that content. In the same manner, engagement on Twitter isn’t measured by the number of @replies solely, but by the number of @replies in relation to the number of followers. This way, KPIs become more
valuable in terms of information on their own and data collected at varying points in time can more easily be compared to each other and to benchmarks.
2.3.3b User goals
When it comes to the question of the value media have to a user, or what people get out of using a specific medium, the uses and gratifications approach seeks to answer those kinds of questions. The first studies taking a uses and gratifications perspective in the field of media date from as early as the 1940’s. The approach was rediscovered some 20 years later, when Katz (1959) suggested to ask the question “what do people do with the media?” instead of “what do the media do to people?”. According to McQuail (2000), the basic assumptions of the uses and gratifications approach can be summed up as follows:
• Media and content choice is generally of a rational nature and is directed towards certain specific goals and satisfactions
• Audience members are conscious of the media-related needs which arise in personal and social circumstances and can voice these in terms of motivations
• Broadly speaking, utility is a more significant determinant of audience formation than aesthetic or cultural factors
• All or most of the relevant factors for audience formation (motives, perceived or obtained satisfactions, media choices, background variables) can, in principle, be measured
Within the uses and gratifications approach, various scholars have developed frameworks in which the most important mass media satisfactions and needs are captured. McQuail et al.
(1972) identify four categories of mass media satisfactions and the needs they fulfil. Similarly, Katz et al. (1973) identify five such categories. Table 4 on the next page shows a variety of needs and the way these needs are segmented by McQuail et al. and Katz et al.
While the uses and gratifications approach has received some criticism for its behaviourist and functionalist leaning, poor prediction or causal explanation of media choice and use (McQuail, 2000) and for being non-theoretical and vague in defining key concepts (Severin & Tankard Jr., 2001), it has been widely applied in studies focussing on new media and the way they are being used. The principles of the uses and gratifications approach may in fact be more suitable when studying these types of new, interactive media because, unlike traditional mass media like radio or television, when using new, interactive media one has to constantly choose between content, i.e. new media require a more active user than traditional media do. This suggests that a new media user is a user that is more aware of its needs and how to fulfil them.
Needs Segmentation by McQuail, Blumler and Brown, 1972
Segmentation by Katz, Gurevitch and Haas, 1973
Information seeking, acquiring information, knowledge and understanding
Surveillance needs Cognitive needs
Emotional release, pleasurable experience, escape from routine or problems
Diversion needs Affective needs
Tension release needs
Self reference, reality exploration, value reinforcement
Personal identity needs Personal integrative needs
Companionship, social utility, strengthening contacts
Personal relationship needs Social integrative needs
Table 4: Mass media needs and need segmentations
Over the last decades a vast body of research applying the uses and gratifications approach to the Internet has been produced. Many scholars retain the need segments that have successfully been applied to mass media. Generally, the following need segments are used in Internet uses and gratifications research: (1) information, (2) interaction / communication, (3) entertainment, and (4) identity. Some scholars add a 5th segment ‘escape’, while other scholars combine that segment with the segment of ‘entertainment’.
Traditionally, the Internet is perceived as being an information-oriented medium (Lin, 2002).
However, over the recent years a decline in using the Internet for information purposes, and an increase in use for (group)-communication and entertainment purposes can be observed (Van Deursen & Van Dijk, 2010). This phenomenon can be explained by the increasing popularity of social media and other web 2.0 websites. In contrast to static web 1.0 sites aiming to provide information, social media and other web 2.0 sites are more about (social) interaction and entertainment. Table 5 provides insight into the results of various studies applying the uses and gratifications approach to Internet use and social media use.
In table 5 on the next page, motivations for using the Internet and social media have been arranged to fit the four specific uses and gratifications need segments described earlier. Some authors apply different segments, or segment names. For instance Smock et al (2011) use the name ‘expressive information sharing’ for one of their segments, while the motivations in this segment would also fit the traditional ‘identity’ label.
